Active Cultures is BACK!

After much anticipation, Active Cultures returned for its second season at Pacific Asia Museum just a few weeks ago! This innovative program pairs two speakers whose areas of expertise do not necessarily have an obvious connection. Each speaker gives a short 30-minute lecture, which is followed by a conversation that includes both speakers and the audience.

In October we heard from social researcher Alex Leavitt about the Cult of Hatsune Miku, a widely-popular singing software from Japan, and from documentary filmmaker Jennifer Maytorena Taylor about Muslim youth culture as depicted in her films New Muslim Cool and Ramadan Primetime. We saw clips that included performances of pop music by Miku and urban Muslim American hip hop in Jennifer’s film. Audience members asked many great questions and sparked exploration of new topics, including a consideration of how different dominant age demographics in Japan and the Middle East affect the youth cultures of both regions. The evening ended as audience members continued to enjoy their refreshments and their discussion with our speakers and slowly trickled out of the museum.

Sad you missed this one? Our next Active Cultures is on November 18 at 7:30 pm, where Vincent Horn will discuss Buddhist Geeks, a media project he co-founded where wisdom and technology unite, and bassist and composer Cory Combs will share his insights into the modern sounds of Indonesian music. Free for members, $10 general public, and you can even get your tickets in advance on Eventbrite! Hope to see you there! ~KS